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Today Image Nation Abu Dhabi, in partnership with twofour54 tadreeb, announced the launch of Arab Film Studio. The program is a five-year commitment to help develop local film talent in the United Arab Emirates and encourage the growth of the film industry in the Arab region. Arab Film Studio will identify, train and foster budding Emirati filmmakers, providing them with the discipline and training needed for successful careers in the film industry.
Arab Film Studio will host a series of competitions to help identify promising film talent. The first of these launched today with a call for entries for the first Arab Film Studio’s Short Film Competition. The competition is aimed at Emirati film students and young professionals interested in honing their skills and getting the preparation needed to enter the film industry.
Mohammed Al Mubarak, Chairman of Image Nation, commented: “Our goal at Image Nation is to be a magnet for aspiring filmmakers. There is a wealth of talent in the UAE and we are committed to spearheading programs that sharpen their skills and create compelling platforms for their voices to be heard. We’re confident Arab Film Studio will deliver on both of these aims.”
Michael Garin, CEO of Image Nation, commented: “At Image Nation we’re committed to producing a robust slate of Emirati films, but the limited pool of talent ready to make feature films is a great challenge. So our mission as a company has been redefined – we’re now also focused on training and developing aspiring young filmmakers so together we can bring their stories and ideas to the big screen.”
Sea Shadow, the first film in Image Nation Abu Dhabi’s Emirati slate, recently premiered at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. It will be opening in theatres throughout the GCC on November 17. The film was directed by Emirati director Nawaf Al-Janahi, based on a script by Mohammed Hassan Ahmed. Sea Shadow itself began as a short film script supported by a grant from Emirates Foundation and is an excellent example of how these projects can grow and develop.
Mohammed Al Otaiba, Head of Image Nation Abu Dhabi, commented: “We want to help remove the obstacles that face many aspiring filmmakers. In launching Arab Film Studio we are targeting talent, irrelevant of their level of experience. For the Short Film Competition our only criteria is creativity – the more original the idea the better.”
Competition winners will participate in rigorous courses covering all aspects of the filmmaking process. Designed and run in partnership with twofour54 tadreeb, the courses will mirror every step of making films – from pitching, developing an idea, and writing the script, to budgeting, casting, and post-production. Certain challenges will be added to the workshops to keep the courses exciting and fun, with various validations to ensure participants are progressing.
”Arab Film Studio joins a number of initiatives we have aimed at helping young UAE Nationals and Arabs to enter the media industry,” commented Wayne Borg, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer, twofour54. “As well as providing international standard media industry training through twofour54 tadreeb, we provide funding and production support through twofour54 ibtikar creative lab. To date we have helped produce more than 20 short films, including Soul, which recently picked up two awards at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. In addition we brought Tropfest, the world’s largest short film festival, to the Middle East to provide an exciting and accessible platform for first time film makers. Short films are generally seen as the entry point to film making so Arab Film Studio should help increase the number of Arabs taking their first steps in the industry.”
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